A man asked an electrician, “How do you handle all that power and not get electrocuted?” The electrician replied, “First, I constantly respect the power. After that, it’s easy.” That was the advice Peter gave God’s people on how to deal with the devil. Peter wrote his first letter to tell Christians on how to cope in tough times. He urged them to remain faithful, humble, and watchful. He put special emphasis on how to deal with the devil. Satan is a real person, unseen by the naked eye, and yet very clever in the way he deceives and defeats people. Peter told the believers to 1) Respect Satan, even though we need not fear him. We don’t have to fear him because Christ defeated him when he died and rose again. God has pronounced his sentence but has not yet incarcerated him. 2) Peter urges us to recognize his tactics. He prowls around like a roaring lion looking for people to eat; He deceives the unsuspecting by twisting the truth or urging us to put off obeying God. 3) Peter says resist his efforts to defeat us. Jesus showed us how to do that when Satan met him in the desert. Jesus defeated him by knowing and relying on God’s truth found in the Bible. Peter said that within the church fellowship, we can resist Satan when he tries to undermine God’s work. We defeat him by submitting to one another. We win by staying faithful, knowing that God will reward us for our steadfastness.
